How Art Saved Her Life: A Lioness's Journey Through Leukemia | Meaghan Troup
Jen Porter (00:00)
Hey, Lioness, welcome to the show, Lioness Conversations, where we help women be brave to lead with confidence and joy and to find your path to the most meaningful work of your life. I'm your host, Jen Porter, leadership and empowerment coach for ambitious and heart-centered women who are on a mission to change the world. You can find out more about the Lioness community and the work that I do at jenportercoach.com.
For our episode today, prepare to be captivated by the vibrant and peaceful canvases of Meaghan Troup, a Pennsylvanian artist whose breathtaking oil paintings, born from a deep faith and a powerful personal journey, offer viewers a profound sense of hope and the beauty of life itself. From studying Renaissance art at Oxford to battling leukemia as a teen.
Meaghan's unique perspective infuses her award-winning work, which promotes healing in medical centers and inspires collectors worldwide. Meaghan, welcome to the show.
Meaghan Troup (01:08)
Thank you.
Jen Porter (01:10)
I'm so thrilled to have you here from the very first conversation that we had. I was amazed by your story, what you've overcome and the work that you're doing through your art. ⁓ The way that you're giving back, mean, this show is all about featuring the stories of brave women doing amazing work in the world and giving back as a result of their own experiences.
and you are doing that. So before we get into the meat of your story, tell us what you're doing in your art currently, what's happening.
Meaghan Troup (01:47)
Well, this year so far, I actually have worked with Hershey Medical Center and I did a, actually taught a class with some cancer survivors and their, sorry, and their caretakers for just a painting class to provide.
and escape and out and just a fun activity that they can do. So I did that earlier this year. And I also ⁓ have been invited by the Bedford Art Museum, which is outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to show coming up from October to February of next year. And they also invited me to their art walk, which is in June.
⁓ I have work currently in the State College. ⁓ It's basically the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. They have a show every summer and I have work there. And I also have work in the Belmont Art Museum which is in ⁓ Belmont, Pennsylvania. So a little bit all over the place.
Jen Porter (03:06)
We'll get into this more about how you ended up having your artwork in medical centers. But you just told me before we jumped on that there is a medical ⁓ center, maybe a cohort of medical centers that have ordered 50 of your prints.
Meaghan Troup (03:13)
Mm-hmm.
yeah.
Yes, Mount Nittany Medical Center. I've forgotten about that. It's in the State College, Pennsylvania area, which is, if anyone has heard of ⁓ Penn State University, Penn State football, Nittany Lions. They're pretty big here. They're pretty big in a lot of places, but the medical center has facilities in that area and outlying regions.
and my artwork was ordered and prints of my artwork is are seen in all of their facilities right now. So yeah.
Jen Porter (04:05)
That's incredible. Okay,
⁓ so let's talk about how you first got into art and how this came to be such a huge passion for you. But let's start with you as a little girl. So tell us what you were like when you were little.
Meaghan Troup (04:21)
My mom said that there was never a safe scrap of paper in the house. I drew on everything. Scrap of paper in the house. Like if there was mail, it had to be where I couldn't reach it because otherwise I would draw on it. She said from the time I could hold anything in my hand, I was drawing and coloring. My dad is a, well he's retired now, but he was a doctor.
Jen Porter (04:27)
A safe what?
⁓
Meaghan Troup (04:49)
and he had one of those big old desks, massive desks. And as a little girl, I'd scroll, like just crawl in underneath his desk and color on the wall behind the desk. And no one ever knew I did that until we renovated the house and they moved his desk into a different spot. And there was all these like drawings underneath the desk. But my mom just said there was never a safe space. I was...
or anything safe for me coloring on because I was just always drawing, always coloring. And I was a really happy kid. They're always very positive. ⁓ Always tried to make friends with people. My mom said ⁓ just any kid that was like bullied or less fortunate, I'd be like trying to bring them home and make them my best friend. Same with animals.
Jen Porter (05:47)
you
Meaghan Troup (05:49)
I could bring any animal home and just get them to follow me. just was a kid with a big heart and always loved the arts, always.
Jen Porter (06:01)
Wow,
it's always been part of you. mean, you kind of came out of the womb ⁓ drawing and coloring. So tell us what happened ⁓ when you got sick.
Meaghan Troup (06:03)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
I was 13 when I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and that treatment, it's one of the more survivable cancers, but the older you are, the less chance you have of survival. And at 13, I was considered pretty old. when, yeah.
Jen Porter (06:37)
for that type of cancer.
Meaghan Troup (06:41)
So my chance of survival at diagnosis was around 20 % of surviving, yes. ⁓ leukemia also, it's a more treatable cancer typically, but ⁓ it's got the longest consecutive treatment. So it's a three year, almost three and a half year treatment plan, no breaks. So with other cancers, you may find that
Jen Porter (06:47)
of surviving.
Meaghan Troup (07:11)
You know, people go through chemotherapy for a little bit. They may have a radiation treatment and then they'll have a break. With leukemia, it's straight. Straight chemotherapy all through all those three years. And honestly, what kills patients most of the time is the treatment, not the cancer, because it's it's really taxing on your body. I had...
many complications through my treatment. And to this day, I still have doctors that look at my history and say, I don't understand how you're here ⁓ and functioning because, you know, as you can imagine, ⁓ all of that can be really damaging to you internally. ⁓ fortunately, at least as of my checkup with
after I found out I was pregnant with my last baby, ⁓ my internal organs looked like somebody who never went through it. So it's a big miracle.
Jen Porter (08:21)
Wow. Okay, so what,
totally. So you're 13 and what kind of symptoms did you have? You were not feeling well, you were fatigued, what was going on?
Meaghan Troup (08:29)
I was 13.
I actually, I felt fine for the most part. I was tired, but I was playing three sports. So, and I was also growing. ⁓ I had some heel pain and, ⁓ the symptoms that got, it just gave my dad a red flag was that I broke out in a petechial rash all over my body. So,
For those of you who may not know what that is, so you know when you stuck on your skin and that little prickly red dot rash can come up? That's called petechiae. It's when the vessels that are really close to your skin burst. And for someone with leukemia, that happens because essentially leukemia is a cancer of your blood cells and how they reproduce your immune system essentially.
And so all of your blood cells are affected by that. In my case, was the cells ⁓ that were cancerous were the ones that were the reproductive cells. So my body was just generating more and more cancerous blood cells. So I woke up, I had...
Jen Porter (09:52)
more
Meaghan Troup (10:01)
this particular rash all over my body. And my dad as a doctor knew that this could be one of two things, either a virus ⁓ that wasn't great, but completely treatable, or it was leukemia. And I just remember waking up and I was in eighth grade and it was like any other normal day. And I was just like, hey, I've got this all over my body, you know, and
Jen Porter (10:08)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (10:29)
My dad took me into his office before it even opened, ran blood work, had it run stat. And I was in the middle of my science class and I was just pulled out and just told, hey, you got to go home. And at the time, my grandfather was living with us. And I honestly thought that something had gone.
wrong with him that maybe he had passed away or had an accident or something. But I just pulled out said told your parents are going to be here to pick you up. You just need to gather your books, whatever you need for the next few days and come to the nurse's office.
Jen Porter (11:16)
Wow. Your dad diagnosed you.
Meaghan Troup (11:17)
So.
He knew. ⁓ Technically, I went to an oncologist from there. They picked me up and they took me to an oncology office where the doctor there explained to me that I had leukemia, that I would have to go to where I was treated with Strong Memorial Hospital, which was honestly such a blessing because it's in New York State.
you're a child with cancer, that's where you want to be.
Jen Porter (11:51)
How far away was that for you?
Meaghan Troup (11:53)
an hour, an hour away. So that I would be going there to start treatment. And it was just, it was like, really surreal.
Jen Porter (12:05)
So was it like you were pulled out of your normal life and now you're suddenly and immediately in treatment?
Meaghan Troup (12:09)
Mm-hmm.
Yes. So I had just enough time before this appointment because my dad knew what it was going to be. Like as soon as he saw the results, he knew what was going on. So my parents brought me home. They didn't really say anything. They said, hey, we need to go see another doctor. ⁓ We're going to pack up some clothes, you know, and so
Jen Porter (12:21)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (12:41)
I was a child with a history of severe allergies and also asthma. So it was like, it was a little weird, but it was like, ⁓ okay. You know, I had been seen by specialists before and I know my dad said, hey, maybe this could be viral. We might have to see another specialist like in the morning. So it wasn't like making me panic at that point. Yeah. So my mom was like packing stuff up.
Jen Porter (13:04)
Mm-hmm. I were trying to keep you calm.
Meaghan Troup (13:10)
And I was kind of grabbing some things that I knew I want, make sure everything I thought I needed for schoolwork was in my bag. And they started taking pictures of me.
Jen Porter (13:20)
Mm-hmm.
⁓
Meaghan Troup (13:26)
Like I was, so my dad and I were actually working on a dollhouse. I love miniature as a kid. ⁓ And we were working on a dollhouse and it was almost complete. That was like our daddy daughter project. We'd been working on it for a couple of years. And he like sat me down and took photos of me in front of it. And I thought that was kind of strange. I'm like, what is going on?
Jen Porter (13:52)
This is right before
you left to go to the oncologist. Okay.
Meaghan Troup (13:56)
Yeah.
And I'm like, what is going on? And so that was my only thing that seemed weird. And then we went to the oncologist and, you know, he just said, we sat down and he's like, you know, I'm very sorry, but you have leukemia. I didn't even know what that was. You know, and then when he explained that it was cancer, I'm like, no, it's not.
I was like, kids don't get cancer. I've never heard of a kid getting cancer. And it was before, like, my parents were really good at sheltering us from things. We didn't watch television on school nights, you know, they were pretty careful about the content we watched. it wasn't, I this was before social media and things like that. We didn't see a whole lot of that. We played outside, we had fun with friends, we read books, we
colored, did art projects. So I had never heard of a child having cancer before. So in my experience, ⁓ only older people got cancer. I had a grandmother passed from cancer few years prior. My grandfather actually had just gotten through treatment for cancer. And my aunt at that time was being treated for ovarian cancer.
Jen Porter (15:06)
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Meaghan Troup (15:22)
So like in my head, I'm thinking, yeah, like you don't know what you're talking about. know, this is not, and ⁓ you know, it really didn't sink in, but I did ask him, said, am I going to die?
Jen Porter (15:26)
Who's for older? Older adults.
Meaghan Troup (15:43)
Yeah. And he said, I can't tell you that answer. ⁓ I can't give you that answer. ⁓ Because treatment is different for everyone and how it affects everyone is different. But ⁓ just a positive attitude helps. you are going to the best place you can go to get treated.
Jen Porter (15:53)
Whoa.
My goodness. So your world turned upside down. What were the next weeks and months like for you?
Meaghan Troup (16:17)
Mm-hmm. Overnight.
So once we got to the hospital, I literally the next morning was scheduled to have a central line put in. So that's a tube that hangs from your chest here. And that is to ease administration of ⁓ medications as well as to draw blood because the amount of blood draws and medications and IVs and
everything that you have to have essentially stuck into you as a cancer patient. ⁓ A lot of kids, their veins collapse eventually. So they put the central lines in to help prevent that because once that damage happens, it makes life harder as an adult. You think about any time you have to get blood drawn or anything like that. If you don't have good veins,
for your adult life, it makes all that more difficult. So I went into surgery the next morning. I remember the night before, I said it felt really surreal. I think I went in to the hospital and I was like laying out my things and thinking, oh, I'm just gonna be here for a little bit. And I'm gonna get some medicine and it'll be fine. And my parents, both of them,
Jen Porter (17:23)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (17:51)
were medical professionals. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a doctor and they had held it together for me during this process. I think the only time they cracked a little bit is they brought my sisters home from school, like just said, hey, just come straight home from school. Don't do your sports activities after school. And my sisters, ⁓ this is after being oncologist.
⁓ my sisters all like hugged me and were crying and I could see my parents crying like tearing up. But in the hospital, my room where I was overlooked the main lobby of the hospital and there were skylights in the main lobby of the hospital and I could see right down into the main lobby and my parents were in chairs in the lobby and my dad was holding my mom and they were just crying.
other. And that is the first time I thought this might not be okay. ⁓ This might be worse than what I'm thinking it's going to be. So.
Jen Porter (18:58)
Yeah.
I can't believe you got that
view. What a unique perspective to be able to see them. I think you could do that. You never did.
Meaghan Troup (19:07)
I actually, yeah, I actually never told them about that.
No, because I didn't, I didn't want them to feel bad that I had seen them break. You know, they were trying so hard and I didn't want them, I didn't want them to know I had seen that. So I kept it to myself.
Jen Porter (19:17)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm.
you know it's kind of a metaphor for how we do life a lot is we're all trying to be brave for each other right we're all trying to protect each other from from these things and ⁓ and in in a sense it actually creates some isolation and feeling alone and things because we don't want to show that vulnerability of like i'm really scared i don't know what's going to happen i don't have control over this and so
Meaghan Troup (19:33)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jen Porter (19:58)
I think it's really common with parents wanting to protect their kids, but you as a kid wanted to protect your parents too.
Meaghan Troup (20:05)
Yeah,
I could see that they were fighting so hard to protect me. I didn't want to give them something else that they had to try to cover up, you know, or hide. And then in the weeks that followed, that whole month was just difficult. It was December 1st of 1997 that I was diagnosed. And they were not sure I would make it home for Christmas. So the initial treatment
is about a month long. And if you don't go into, they were hoping that I would go into what they call remission quickly. But if you don't, then that process can take longer. But even after a leukemia patient goes into remission, they continue with the chemo because if they stop, they find that it usually always comes back. And if it does, most of the time it's fatal.
Jen Porter (21:01)
Wow.
Meaghan Troup (21:03)
But a couple of things that we found, the first was my white blood cell count was huge. Can't remember the number off the top of my head, but it was like 10 times what it should have been. the doctor, yeah, and every cell it produced is cancerous.
Jen Porter (21:18)
because your body's trying to fight off an infection.
⁓
yeah.
Meaghan Troup (21:27)
So the doctors told my parents they were pretty sure I would need a bone marrow transplant. If you have a bone marrow transplant that actually increases your risk of dying because your body has to adjust to somebody else's bone marrow, somebody else's cells. Even if it's a perfect match, it's still not you. So, and there's the, you know, it's a surgery, you know, it's...
Jen Porter (21:51)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (21:57)
It's a lot to go through when your body is already compromised. The doctors came back and said, I did not need one that they had never ever seen a patient with such a high white blood cell count that did not have cancer in the bone marrow.
Jen Porter (22:15)
Okay, wow.
Meaghan Troup (22:17)
So that was like my first miracle. ⁓ And then a couple of weeks after that, I ended up with Tiflitis, which is a severe infection in your bowel lining and your intestinal lining. And basically what causes that is ⁓ your, so with the chemo, it's killing off the cancer cells and
Jen Porter (22:19)
Yes.
Meaghan Troup (22:46)
all of your everything that basically fights in your body that your good cells go with it. ⁓ So in your gut, there's good bacteria and there's bad bacteria. You know, we all have it, the good bacteria breaks down things. And we've hopefully flush out the bad bacteria about our body fights that. ⁓ But because of the chemo,
Jen Porter (22:56)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (23:16)
everything was being wiped out. So the bacteria in my gut was eating through my gut. And I almost had two holes in two places. And they almost didn't catch it because they didn't run fever. I'm a kid that I rarely run fever and they almost didn't catch it. And my dad kind of, is parents advocate for your kids because
Jen Porter (23:18)
Yeah.
Mmm.
Meaghan Troup (23:45)
you know your kid. So my dad knew me and he was looking at me and I was in so much pain I couldn't unbend my legs and he's like, no, you got to run these tests and they did. And I had tiflitis and ⁓ the doctors told my parents, she's not, we don't see healthy people make it through such a severe case of tiflitis. Like she is not going to make it through this. You better call who you need to call and make preparations. This is about
Jen Porter (23:46)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (24:14)
about a week and a half, two weeks in to my month there.
I was on IV nutrients. I couldn't eat anything, ⁓ couldn't take any. I mean, I had IV fluids and IV nutrients, but nothing could go into me, my mouth. And I pulled through and that was my second miracle. ⁓ And the first thing I wanted when I was through that,
process when they said, you can eat again, was about two, two and a half weeks later, I wanted a hot dog. So I got myself a hot dog. And then, yeah, it was just, it was a crazy month. And oh, I also went into kidney failure. Because when
Jen Porter (25:01)
Hahaha
Meaghan Troup (25:22)
I believe the term is tumor lysis. So when you go through chemo, there's so much cell death because it's killing all the cancer cells and good cells too, but your kidneys can't keep up. And so they start shutting down. And at one point I was at about 20 % kidney function and they didn't think that I would, they thought I might need.
dialysis, they didn't think that I would recover from that. But I did make it through that as well without any issues.
Jen Porter (25:57)
How were you making it through these days?
Meaghan Troup (26:04)
a lot of prayer. ⁓ My family, honestly, being there, but my art was my escape. So I packed all of my, my art stuff, you know, my sketchbook and pencils went with me everywhere, usually. So I made sure that they were packed. And, you know, when I just needed to escape where I was, I draw.
I draw my peaceful place and I would go there. And so I still have my sketchbook from those days. I hate looking at them because you know, through the eyes of me now and my art now I'm like, my goodness, this is this is not good. ⁓ But and also it brings up memories that are hard. ⁓ But my art was my outlet. And
Jen Porter (26:36)
Mmm.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (27:04)
It's also, you know, I've told my family and, you know, my husband knows this and my friends too, but when I paint or when I create art, I honestly feel closer to God that way than I even do like in a church worship service. That's when I feel like I'm really speaking with him. So.
Jen Porter (27:24)
Hmm
What does that
look like and feel like?
Meaghan Troup (27:33)
Well, as an adult today, I usually, you know, close my studio door, I usually put my favorite hymns, or I listen to the message a lot on Saris radio. And I always pray before I start a piece, because I may have an idea about what I'm painting, but what I want
Jen Porter (27:50)
Okay.
Meaghan Troup (28:03)
my art to be is God speaking for me. And I want each piece to be someone else's visual escape. Just like art was a visual escape for me as a child. Today, I want it to be someone else's place of peace that, know, whatever it is they're carrying, because we all carry something. They can just unload it and just feel like, and just be reminded of the beauty and
And, ⁓ you know, God's grace is all around us through his creation. And, you know, how lucky are we to live in such a beautiful world? ⁓ I think we miss that we get busy and we miss that. ⁓ But ⁓ so I usually pray ⁓ that whatever comes out is what he would have not not what I like if my vision is not what you would have. Let your vision come out.
Jen Porter (28:47)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (29:04)
And working with palette knives, it's pretty interesting. So I don't use any brushes. I do everything start to finish with palette knife. ⁓ And I work in layers from the background forward. And sometimes as I layer, patterns emerge in the dry paint or the partially drying layers. And the painting changes shape because those marks
show me something different. ⁓ And one of the things I actually learned when I was studying abroad in Oxford, there's a quote from Michelangelo and someone asked him how he knows what he's gonna carve out of the stone. Cause he was first and foremost a sculptor. And he said, the rock tells me. So I think sometimes when I
Jen Porter (29:36)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (30:04)
started painting and as I see the marks drying up in the layers. It's like, ⁓ okay, well, I was gonna go here, but it's telling me something different now. And sometimes I really think that's just a God thing. So.
Jen Porter (30:15)
Yeah.
So art was helping you survive.
Meaghan Troup (30:25)
Yes. So art, you know, it's a universal language. ⁓ And it's a way for people to communicate emotions that maybe you have no words for. You know, I went through some pretty dark times in those three years going through chemo and radiation. There were times like, it sounds harsh, but I was literally okay if I died. ⁓ Because
I'm a person of deep faith. I knew where I was going. ⁓ So I wasn't afraid. I wasn't afraid of death. But ⁓ the reality of going through chemotherapy and radiation for that long, it's just really hard. It's very painful. And even when you're getting better because chemo, those drugs accumulate in your system.
Jen Porter (31:00)
Mm.
Meaghan Troup (31:22)
So you may be getting better, but you feel worse.
So you're surviving, but you feel worse and worse and worse, more and more sick. ⁓ So there were moments where I just...
just didn't want to do it anymore. And I was completely okay if I died. But how do you share that with your parents? How do you share that with your sisters who, you know, even though they aren't going through the chemo and the cancer, they're going through it in a different way. And they're all fighting for you in a variety of ways. It's really hard to share some of those emotions, but I could put it into my artwork.
Jen Porter (32:00)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (32:10)
I could vent it through my artwork and I could come to a place of peace with it, with God in my artwork. And I just, remember a specific time, I honestly think my mom saved my life because there was a point at which I was probably a year or so into my treatment. And I was
you know, had peach fuzz. I was puffy from the medications. I was bullied a lot in school, even though it took me a while to understand that probably a lot of kids didn't realize I was still going through treatment. But I was bullied a lot in school for, you know, looking funny, get called a freak and things like that. I just
Jen Porter (32:57)
Okay.
⁓
Meaghan Troup (33:09)
wanted to give up. And I was in the hospital again, I think it was because I had ⁓ like a ⁓ infection at my site for my, my tubes that were there, my central line. ⁓ And I was going through, was, I was being treated with antibiotics. And
I'm also still receiving chemo and I refuse to get out of bed. And for anyone who has any experience with people who have long-term illness, you have to keep moving. You know, if you just lay in bed, you die. So it's really important to keep up your strength to move a little bit at least every day, even if you're feeling horrible. And
Jen Porter (34:08)
Thank
Meaghan Troup (34:09)
My mom looked at me and she's like, listen, you can be bitter. You can be resentful. You can be angry and you have every right to be all of those. Nobody can fault you for that. Nobody will say a word about that. But if you don't make this, make it through this, how do you want people to remember you? Is that the testimony? Is that what you want them to remember you as angry?
bitter, resentful? Or do you want them to remember you as brave and strong and faithful, like still through all of it? Sorry, I'm tearing up. And I thought about it and I'm like, you know what? This isn't me. I am, I have always been a happy person. I have always managed to find joy and I am not
Jen Porter (34:53)
Yeah, no, I get
Meaghan Troup (35:10)
going to stop being that person. So I got up and I walked and I made it through that too. ⁓ And another like backtracking. When I was diagnosed, I was five, six. I come from a very tall family. My big sister is almost six one. My biggest big sister. I'm one of three and I'm the youngest, but she's six one.
There isn't a man who is born into my family that is shorter than six, five. So tall genes in our family. And the doctor looked at me and said, ⁓ this is great. You're the average size for a woman. So ⁓ you won't have to worry about feeling too short because you're average size. You're not going to grow any more than this. The chemo is going to stunt your growth and you will not grow anymore.
And I don't know if I just got sick of like people telling me what I couldn't do because this diagnosis also ended things like competitive sports for me. It ended a lot. School was as I could. saw a tutor otherwise, you know, social clubs were tough things, but all of those extracurriculars were not happening for at least a year.
Jen Porter (36:15)
you
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (36:37)
but definitely like no sports, no anything like that. And I just looked at him and I said, don't you tell me what I can and cannot do. You don't know me and you don't know what I'm made of. And my mom was like, look, cause she's very like proper and polite. And ⁓ I got, think a little bit more of the Irish Spitfire in me from my dad's side.
Jen Porter (36:50)
Wow.
have.
Meaghan Troup (37:07)
But I am 5'10", so.
Jen Porter (37:11)
Wow, defy the odds over and over and over again.
Meaghan Troup (37:12)
Yeah.
So, you know, I just, and then, you know, I got a lot of, don't worry about school, come back if you get better, if, ⁓ you know, ⁓ but I, school was a, it was a normal place for me. It was one thing that kept some normalcy in my life. And even though I had to do it with a tutor for a chunk of the time, I did.
Jen Porter (37:30)
⁓
Meaghan Troup (37:47)
work really hard. know, I'm going after school when I could. I'd stay late every day when I could just catch up and everything. And no one, I was a really smart kid. Prior to being diagnosed, I had almost a photographic memory. Like, I never studied. I could read something once and like on a test, like zoom in on the page and find the section and just in my mind read it.
Jen Porter (38:00)
.
Wow.
That's amazing.
Meaghan Troup (38:16)
And that went away after brain radiation and chemo. So I had to teach myself to learn. I actually, most people wouldn't notice it, but I have a short-term memory loss disability. So what takes me, what takes you an hour to like maybe read and comprehend? It would take me an hour and a half. It's called time and a half.
Jen Porter (38:25)
Mmm.
Okay.
Meaghan Troup (38:46)
And that's because the location where my brain got irradiated has stored some of the ability to like just store information short term. So it just takes me longer to remember everything. And they do radiation that way because they find that they don't and the cancer cells break the blood brain barrier in your spine. Put the base here in your spine and head here.
⁓ The cancer cells will get into your brain and then it's always fatal. They can't. There's nothing they can do. So that was another miracle that never happened. ⁓ So, but I worked really, really hard. found out I relearned how to learn. ⁓ And I pushed myself because I didn't want to one just be known as the cancer kid.
Jen Porter (39:45)
Hmm.
Meaghan Troup (39:46)
And two, I didn't want somebody else defining for me what I could accomplish. Just because I had this diagnosis didn't mean I was less capable, less intelligent. ⁓
Jen Porter (40:03)
Where did that come from? That grit.
Meaghan Troup (40:07)
I don't know. I think to an extent it was always there, but I also think that during this time I really learned what it meant to walk with God daily. Because I didn't know if I was going to wake up the next day. So it was sort of like, okay, God.
Jen Porter (40:24)
Mm.
Meaghan Troup (40:30)
What do we got going today? What do you have for me today? How are we gonna get through this? Help me get through this. And one of the verses that always stuck with me was Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ to strengthen me. And the Bible, one of the things I love about the Bible and scripture, and if you have the opportunity to...
take some courses or Bible studies that delve into even how things were written in Greek and Hebrew. It's really interesting, but it's very specific in the language it uses. And unlike English, and I'm not bashing English, but English is a very shallow language. Hebrew is pictorial, and each of the pictures symbolize many things.
So you can have a word, but it can be used in different ways and mean just a huge amount of things. It's really, really neat. And Greek is also that way to an extent. it just, these languages are much deeper. And in that verse, it says all and doesn't say some, it's very specific that it says all. So.
anything God has for you, He's going to enable you to do. And so I would just try to wake up and be like, okay, what do you have for me? Help me do it.
Jen Porter (42:01)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (42:12)
I know I can because this is what you've promised. So when someone told me, you can't do that, I don't take, I don't invest in other people's opinions. I don't invest in other people's beliefs of me. I invest in what God says of me. And so I, it sounds spiteful.
Jen Porter (42:16)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (42:41)
But I decided to prove everyone wrong. And I worked hard and I probably worked harder than I needed to. And I, you know, cause I went from my kid that people expect a lot of to someone they didn't really expect much of because I had this horrible diagnosis and you know, who knows? I may not live.
Jen Porter (42:44)
Hmm.
Meaghan Troup (43:06)
And if I do, know, why overachieve? Just get through what you're going through. But I wanted to show people what was possible. That you are not a diagnosis. You are not what other people say about you. You are what God says about you. And that is a powerful thing. Because what God says about us in Scripture is so beautiful and so amazing.
Jen Porter (43:17)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (43:35)
and it's really empowering. It's the most empowering thing. And, you know, I just, oh, sorry, go ahead.
Jen Porter (43:38)
Yeah.
So you made
it through the three years of constant treatment and you survived.
Meaghan Troup (43:47)
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I graduated second in my class, one one hundredth of a point away from the South Korean. And I graduated with honors and I graduated with being part of National Honor Society and Daughters of the American Revolution and French Club and Drama Club and Art Club and you name it. And when
Jen Porter (44:03)
Wow.
So you had recovered,
you recovered around 16 and then you had, was it a normal, did you have a normal high school experience the last couple of years?
Meaghan Troup (44:27)
Yep, and I.
No, so I went through chemo until I was 16. I graduated at 17. I was young for my class. So I up until my junior year about partway through my junior year, I was on chemotherapy. I was going through treatment. And then it takes a while for those medications to sort of get out of your system. But when I came back to school, my senior year, people didn't know who I was.
because I had all the medication weight that had built up had come off and over the summer and everything. And ⁓ it was funny because when I was diagnosed and walked into high school and I looked like a boy, honestly, because I had short hair and I was puffy from medication and I more like overall just stuff that was comfortable. ⁓ I remember
Jen Porter (45:31)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (45:33)
being in Selly Hall and hearing a conversation about how I died.
Jen Porter (45:38)
⁓ Wow.
Meaghan Troup (45:40)
And
yeah, and then my senior year, I come back after all of that kind of had emptied, you my hair was grown back, I mean, shorter, but it was back and ⁓ fully and I was not puffy anymore. And everyone thought I was a new kid, except for my two very close friends.
Jen Porter (46:09)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (46:10)
in
high school and they knew who I was, but pretty much I walked in and the majority of the people in the school didn't know who I was. So was kind of thrill experience.
Jen Porter (46:19)
So,
you know, I think about the life that you've lived so many years since then, and everything is sort of through this filter of, I've been through a really hellish experience.
Meaghan Troup (46:24)
Mm-hmm.
Yes. Anytime something seems daunting that I'm facing, just think, well, it's easier than chemo. I did that. It's not that hard. ⁓ So I can do this. And it's just.
Jen Porter (46:42)
Thank
Meaghan Troup (46:54)
that whole experience gives you a new perspective on life. And you know, a lot of times when I tell people about my history and they're like, my goodness, I'm so sorry you went through that. And I'm not, I'm not sorry because I know who I am after this process. And I am someone who is strong has been through, you know, for lack of better term, hell and back.
Jen Porter (47:23)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (47:23)
but
still has a soft heart and still, I don't know who I would have been before because I was shy. I was really concerned with what people thought of me. I was quiet and I don't know where that would have led, but I don't think I would have,
led to this person who has a clear purpose with her, the gift that God gave her with her relationship with God and with her ability to share that with others and also hopefully help others going through long-term illness.
Jen Porter (48:10)
Well,
let's talk about that. How are you giving back now? Talk about the art you do for those who are in treatment in these hospitals.
Meaghan Troup (48:20)
Okay.
Well, I've been working for many years now since basically I moved to Pennsylvania, which would have been in 2007. I started helping at Geisinger Medical Center at their house of care, which is sort of like a Ronald McDonald house, a little bit different. It's got a higher level of medical care, if that makes sense, than a Ronald McDonald house, but it's a place where patients who
are coming to the hospital that will be there for a longer period of time, a week or two, can come as a more homey environment. ⁓ Michelle, who was the director there, ⁓ saw my artwork at a show I was doing and saw my story and was just like, my goodness, would you be willing to come on and paint on site? So I started.
Jen Porter (48:58)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (49:20)
pinion site at the House of Care at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. And that's where it started with it. And then ⁓ not long after that, ⁓ Claire DeBoer, who was, she has kind of gone off and done her own thing recently now, but she was the head of an organization at Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. ⁓ That was a non-provoke.
Jen Porter (49:46)
.
Meaghan Troup (49:49)
for profit that brought artwork into the medical facilities. And at that time, they were also working on a study in conjunction with some medical centers in the UK on the ability of art to help healing. ⁓ And so I have been painting on site there, doing classes.
Jen Porter (50:14)
So tell us what that means when you say I was doing art on site, describe that.
Meaghan Troup (50:18)
So,
⁓ it's usually a session that's about an hour and a half, two hours, and I will come with my easel, my paint. ⁓ Usually I bring more than one canvas, just depending, sometimes depending on the feel of what's going on, I'll do more than one or if one, it goes quickly, I'll do more than one. But ⁓ I set up, I paint, I usually plan out the scene ahead of time because
With a lot of my larger pieces, I paint in layers and those layers kind of have to dry up. So I have to have a really clear idea of what I can get done in that timeframe. So I'll plan out an idea ahead of time. I'll go on site and either patients can just come out and watch or they can participate, whatever their choice is.
And what it does is, you know, a lot of these units are ⁓ long-term illness palliative care. ⁓ And it just provides them a reason to get out of their room. It provides them with a break. ⁓ And I found during this process, Claire told me that ⁓
they keep asking to have me back because I can walk onto that unit and not be afraid, not be stunned by what I see because a lot of these patients are heavily medicated, they're hooked up to a lot of machines, some of them are missing limbs, and I, because of what I went through, can just look at them and just see them. And ⁓
Jen Porter (51:54)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (52:14)
Some of the on-site things have slowed down since COVID. Like I said, I do teach classes here and there. ⁓ I also, during COVID, worked with the University of Rochester Medical Center, specifically with their Walmart Pluta Cancer Center, which is primarily breast cancer patients. And I taught virtual art classes there.
It was really quite an honor because they reached out to me and actually wanted to hire me to be their art director, but ⁓ it wouldn't have been the right move. My husband owns, ⁓ is an owner now of his family insurance agency here. And, you know, we, we love it here in Pennsylvania. We let our kids are established in school and things. So I said, you know, I'm really flattered, but unfortunately,
it's not going to be the right fit for me, but I would love to volunteer and help out and maybe teach some virtual classes. So they did that all through COVID ⁓ because all of the main art therapy classes shut down. ⁓
Jen Porter (53:18)
Wow.
So
what have you seen? Talk about the outcomes through that study of how art helps in healing.
Meaghan Troup (53:35)
Yeah, so they have found and it's significant, it's huge. People who are exposed to the arts and by the arts, I don't mean just like painting, drawing, mean music. mean, ⁓ some of them do fabric crafts, ⁓ you know, any kind of creative thing. ⁓ Heal better, they heal faster, they stay well longer.
And so for medical centers, what that means ⁓ is they have healthier patients who can leave sooner and hopefully don't have to come back. And it's just a really neat thing because, you know, being someone with faith, it just shows how God wired us to be creative. And that's actually something I run into a lot with like adult classes. I can't, I can't.
Jen Porter (54:17)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (54:35)
I can't draw, I'm not creative. All of us have it in us because we are made in God's image. And one of the things ⁓ that I love, and actually ⁓ when I was going into college and I declared my major as fine art, graphic design, someone in my church who was a pretty established older person,
Jen Porter (54:45)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (55:05)
⁓ actually talked to me very negatively, told me God would never bless it because I'm choosing such a worldly, such a worldly occupation. My God would never bless this. And I just looked at her and I said, you know, I appreciate your input, but I really feel very bad for you because I think what you're saying is short-sighted because in the very first chapter, first line of the Bible,
it says in the beginning, God created and he would not have gifted me with the creative ability that he has, similar to what he has, if he did not intend me to use it. And just because like in general, the arts tends to be a more liberal or less godly environment doesn't mean that there aren't
Jen Porter (55:44)
Yeah.
Mm.
Meaghan Troup (56:03)
lots of ways to use your creative gifts to share God with others. right. And, yeah, and I just, I love that. I very evidently have that, but I think we all have that. And so I would tell my adult patients who were doing a class with me, listen.
Jen Porter (56:09)
Yeah.
Well, is the creator, and He made us in His image. So we are created.
Meaghan Troup (56:34)
Nobody somewhere along the line, somebody tells you you're not good. No one tells a kid like you think about when we're children, you're gonna child creating. They always think what they create is wonderful. You know, they have this magic about them somewhere along the line as we grow, somebody tells us, you're not good at that. You're not good at that. But who's to say because when I was in school and college in Rochester, we
took a yearly, at least a yearly, sometimes more than one trip to the art museum there. And in that museum, there is a picture, it's like a painting in a black frame, a red square, no dimension on white paper. And that is in a museum. And if that can be in a museum, anyone can do art. So, ⁓
I just, you know, it's subjective. And honestly, sometimes the process of creating isn't about how good the outcome is, it's about what you're letting out.
Jen Porter (57:44)
Yes, so clear in the way that art helps support you in your healing journey. And what happens when you're doing the art in those medical centers with the patients? What do you notice happens for them?
Meaghan Troup (57:49)
Mm-hmm.
⁓ I've had a lot of different reactions. I think a lot of them find peace. I've had people tear up. I usually share my story because what I really, really want people to understand and these people, a lot of them have received horrible diagnosis. So ⁓ they are looking at terminal illness. They are looking at really bad outcomes. ⁓
Jen Porter (58:09)
Mmm.
Meaghan Troup (58:29)
And I usually share, listen, ⁓ I'm a cancer survivor. I've been there. understand. Maybe not your specific journey, but I understand how hard this process is. And I'm here to tell you, you're not your diagnosis. If I was my diagnosis, I would be dead. If for some reason I managed to survive, I should be on life support.
based on all the things I went through. know, I had during that time, mean, along with the tiflitis, I had an anaphylactic reaction. had sepsis. had, I mean, you name it. I had it. And so many times my parents were told she's not going to survive this. She's not going to survive this. And I did. And going through all of that and having my body function as well as it does with no
Jen Porter (59:21)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (59:30)
serious internal damage is a miracle. Like there is not a medical reason for that. So I try to encourage patients that, you know, doctors have given you your diagnosis and we're thankful for them because they're knowledgeable and God put those people on the earth too for a purpose. And I really do believe, I mean, everything in the world is flawed, but I really do believe most of them are, you know, really out to just care for us and help us. That is their heart.
Jen Porter (59:57)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (1:00:01)
And but but they can't count a diagnosis doesn't account for what's inside of you the drive that's inside of you. So if you
Jen Porter (1:00:06)
Hmm.
Meaghan Troup (1:00:12)
Take a diagnosis, your diagnosis and just let that defeat you. You're you're missing out.
Jen Porter (1:00:20)
What are you talking about that's inside of us that can't be seen?
Meaghan Troup (1:00:25)
wealth in my case, God, but also an inner drive to
just keep going. I think we all have an inner drive to keep going, even in the face of adversity. I think that's kind of built into us. mean, considering, you know, all of time, we've survived all of time, and that is because we were given innate instincts for survival. So I think we all have an inner instinct to push forward. ⁓
Jen Porter (1:00:55)
Right.
You know, what you're
talking about is it's like a metaphor. I'm imagining those that are listening to your story and hearing what you've gone through and how brave you were, how resilient you were to push through that. It's inspiring because we all have these seasons of our life where we're having to push through things that are really hard and feel like at times we may not make it.
Meaghan Troup (1:01:30)
you
Jen Porter (1:01:30)
Right?
It's like that metaphor, it's not, we're not literally going to die, but, but we feel like whatever it is that we're facing, we may not make it through. It may overtake us. And so I hear this like that, that inner strength and that result, like the inner lioness inside that says, no, I will persevere through this. I will continue to live. I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to despair and to really.
Meaghan Troup (1:01:40)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Jen Porter (1:02:01)
⁓ find that inside of us to keep going and press through because the alternative really is death, whether it's metaphorical or literal. You if we start living, we die.
Meaghan Troup (1:02:09)
Right.
Right.
Yeah, yeah. And you know, honestly, even if I wasn't a person of faith, just having come through ⁓ cancer and knowing what it's like, you know, the part of the perspective I gained is just that joy of life. Like, just don't worry too much. Enjoy it. Eat the cake. Have fun.
Jen Porter (1:02:39)
How do you do that? The beauty of
life shows up in your art. So ⁓ what is it that you are showing us? Is it always nature? Are you typically painting?
Meaghan Troup (1:02:54)
typically paint nature because I think it's one of the most beautiful ways God graces us with his presence daily. ⁓ And I just find so much beauty and peace in it. there's a couple of things that you will find a lot. Trees pop up a lot. And that's because ⁓ when I was going through chemo, ⁓ the doctors were
very, very concerned with having us counseled to control our pain mentally, so we didn't get hooked on pain medication. So to put it in perspective, the amount of pain that you have, I have had two babies. I giggled through labor.
My first one was Breach. My sister, who's also now a doctor, my sister Sarah, she's looking at my monitor and she's like, Meaghan, your contractions are too close. You have to tell them you are in the worst pain of your life because you can't give birth to the baby this way. I had to have a C-section, but an emergency had come in and so they were delaying my C-section.
And I was like, but I'm not in pain. I mean, it's a little uncomfortable. I'm not in pain. She's like, doesn't matter. You have to tell them right now that you are in the worst pain of your life and you feel like you have to push. I'm like, but I don't. And she's like, but you do. You just can't tell. So, you know, like to, it's hard to explain that kind of pain to somebody who has never had it. And that is not to shame anybody.
I pray that nobody has to do it. It's one of these things I'm thankful for the experience, but I would never wish it on my worst enemy, obviously.
the joy and just experiencing life and having your eyes open to all the beauty around you. And it's where I kind of go to rejuvenate. then for when they were teaching us pain control, for me, ⁓ they had us like close our eyes, medicate or meditate, sorry, meditate and go somewhere peaceful to
help with the pain. And for me, that was always under a tree looking up or lying in a field of wildflowers and looking up through them. So you will see trees and wildflowers and a lot of my works because of that because they just find those places so peaceful. And also very symbolic, because trees are very life giving. And actually, so are wildflowers. They support
Jen Porter (1:05:42)
Mm.
Meaghan Troup (1:05:59)
just a myriad of ecosystems. And wildflowers up until modern medicine were utilized in many different fashions for medicines and ⁓ for the arts of healing. And even today, some of them are still used in producing our medications that we have. I ⁓ just find them very, and also wildflowers, can't kill them.
Jen Porter (1:06:20)
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (1:06:28)
I love it. Most of them are downgraded as weeds, but they don't really care. Like, you can put anything you want on them and they'll just come up and bloom anyway. So I do love that.
Jen Porter (1:06:30)
That was brilliant.
Amazing. Amazing. So
how can people find your art?
Meaghan Troup (1:06:46)
Sorry, what was that?
Jen Porter (1:06:47)
How can people find your art?
Meaghan Troup (1:06:50)
So they can find it on my webpage, which is RefugeFineArt.com. ⁓ Yes, and I call it Refuge Fine Art. I just recently rebranded like about a year ago to that because I felt like it spoke much more closely to where I was going with my art and where God was leading me, which is that my art is supposed to be ⁓
Jen Porter (1:06:57)
RefugeFineArt.com.
Meaghan Troup (1:07:18)
just a visual escape for people to remind them of the beauty and the joy in the world that's all around us, that God has put all around us and, you know, ultimately of God's presence, who multiple times in the Bible has promised to be our refuge. And it would be one thing that is really important for me to probably share is actually how I got into
Jen Porter (1:07:20)
Mm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (1:07:48)
sharing my art so much in medical facilities because when I got through chemo and everything and I graduated high school and I went to college and I went to college locally in Rochester, New York because there was such a high risk of me relapsing that the doctors were like, can't just like, I was looking at some design schools out in California and they're like, no, you can't do that because if you relapse,
you need to come here. And there was such a high risk of relapse of me because I was older because my ⁓ case was a little more severe than others that they just didn't want me to far. So I went to school in Rochester and Charm Memorial Hospital from Rochester and I had fairly regular appointments there, just checkups, outpatient checkups, things like that. And
Jen Porter (1:08:44)
Thank
Meaghan Troup (1:08:48)
During my second half of my freshman year, I found out that one of my friends who was a senior in high school at that time, Katie, also very into art, was also diagnosed with leukemia. And she went too strong, you know, because that was where you go. And her case was a little bit more advanced.
I visited her weekly. And I brought her, it was funny because I'd bring her things to sketch, like sketchbooks, bring my sketchbook, we'd do art together, or I'd bring her salt and vinegar chips and Sour Patch Kids, because when you're on chemo, you crave things that are salty and sour. And
I would walk in and she'd like, how did you know? Because everybody's bringing her chocolates and cookies and that just makes you want to throw up. ⁓ I think one time I brought her pickles too. ⁓ And I was just like, you know what, Katie, I know. we had very real conversations. She could just tell me anything. Like, I'd be like, hey, how are you doing today? ⁓ I'm fine. I'm like, no, Katie, how are you doing?
Jen Porter (1:09:52)
Hmm.
Meaghan Troup (1:10:14)
And unfortunately, she passed away. ⁓ She had developed ⁓ an infection in her lungs and had fluid build up and her immune system was not strong enough for her to have the surgery that she needed to drain the fluid from her lungs. And the what they were doing
to try to drain it without surgery, you just couldn't keep up. And so essentially she ended up drowning. ⁓ And she passed away and she didn't come from a family of faith. At that time I had shared with her throughout our friendship growing up, but she was like, you know, that's great, but I'm just not a church person. And I remember right before she died, like a day or two before she died, I just went in and I held her hand and I said,
She wasn't responsive really. She couldn't talk or anything and just said, know, Katie, I can't tell you why this happened to you. I can't explain to you why you're losing this battle. I can't explain to you why I get to live and you don't. said, but I can tell you right now that if you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you will die. You will leave this earth and you will go to heaven and you'll never have pain and you will never shed a tear.
Jen Porter (1:11:43)
Mm.
Meaghan Troup (1:11:44)
and
you will be in a new body and all you will experience is joy." And she squeezed my hand and she passed away like I think it was two days later. Sorry, I'm crying again. ⁓ But ⁓ at her funeral, I went to her funeral and I was just overwhelmed with guilt. ⁓ Just why? Why me? Why is my life more
Jen Porter (1:11:57)
Yeah,
Meaghan Troup (1:12:14)
valuable. Why do I get to live and she doesn't? You know, why do I get to go on and marry someone and have a family and have all these things and she doesn't? And I just remember her parents wrapping me in a bear hug when I got in there and I just cried on them and they're like, thank you so much. like, why are you thanking me? And they said, because you gave our daughter something nobody else could.
And that was someone who understood exactly what they were going through. And an ear to listen and understand fully. And it was like in that moment, I was like, okay, God, because up until that point, I didn't share that I was cancer survivor with anyone at college. I didn't want to remember I didn't want people to know me for that. I didn't want people to think I was fragile.
I just wanted to be a normal person. I wanted to just leave it all behind me. And in that moment, I just knew, OK, God, you have something larger for me. And it includes art. And so that's when I started really working in art to help people heal.
Jen Porter (1:13:37)
and start telling your story.
Meaghan Troup (1:13:39)
and start telling my story and start reaching out to people who had no hope or had little hope to give them hope. So that is essentially why I do what I do. And every time I paint, I think about Katie. Every single time. Yeah.
Jen Porter (1:14:01)
Really?
Wow.
Meaghan Troup (1:14:08)
So she is a huge part of us. Yeah, I hope so. She was an amazing person. it's great because her family did come to know the Lord through mine. So I don't know all of what God did through that. I do trust, though, that he says he makes all things beautiful in his time. And that includes the tragedies.
Jen Porter (1:14:09)
Wow, her legacy lives through your art.
Meaghan Troup (1:14:37)
You know, and he has a plan and a purpose and I don't know his ultimate plan and purpose there, but I know this was part of it because had it not been for Katie, I would not be doing this. Most likely. ⁓ And she does, she does live on. She was a beautiful person. Happy kind to everyone.
Jen Porter (1:14:53)
Mm.
Yeah.
Meaghan Troup (1:15:08)
and funny and she had the best smile so
Jen Porter (1:15:14)
Wow.
So what ⁓ I am certain that people are going to find inspiration and strength through your story and through Katie's story. What might be harder for people to access right now is joy and beauty. How do you have? What advice would you give to people who are listening who are they're pushing through a ton? They figured out how to be strong and courageous and persevering and all that.
Meaghan Troup (1:15:18)
you
Mm-hmm.
Jen Porter (1:15:44)
but maybe they've lost sight of beauty and joy? What can they do?
Meaghan Troup (1:15:50)
⁓ Well, I try to wake up and remind myself to say thank you.
because, you know, ultimately, you know, ⁓ for me as a person of faith, my source of joy is God. And we all face hard circumstances. Honestly, right now I'm in a period of life that I am completely overwhelmed all the time ⁓ for a lot of good reasons. But, you know, just life gets busy. have two young kids. They're in, they're starting T-ball and softball. They're in
ballet and piano lessons. I feel like between trying to work a full-time job and take them places, I mean, my goodness, some days I don't even know when I'm going to eat. know, like it gets crazy and it gets exhausting. And when you get exhausted and you're juggling so much, it's really hard to find that joy. So, ⁓ you know, add potential ⁓ long-term illness or
anything like that on top of it. And it just makes it really difficult. But I try to remember to wake up and say thank you, because we don't make our own heart beat. We don't make our lungs breathe. And if we have the opportunity to wake up and enjoy, enjoy one more day, even if it's a hard day, it's such a gift, you know,
And remind myself by saying thank you that that is a gift. And as hard as juggling my kids' schedules and my work schedules, I'm so thankful for my two children. ⁓ At one point, we didn't think we were going to have them. I had some issues with fertility, which were also not expected. But, you know, they were a little miracle.
Jen Porter (1:17:27)
Mm-hmm.
Meaghan Troup (1:17:52)
I was told I wasn't going to be able to have children. then a few, about six months later, after just giving that to God, I ended up pregnant with my daughter. ⁓ So, and I realize not everybody's story is that, but just knowing that even though schedules with kids get busy and work schedules get busy, I'm thankful I have a job. I'm thankful I have kids. I'm thankful I live in a place where
I have ample access to good medical care, to food. There's so many things to be thankful for, especially in the United States. You know, we're very, very fortunate as a country. And I think one of the things that helped me to feel that joy again is just to go through the blessings and just say, thank you. Thank you.
Jen Porter (1:18:47)
Yeah, for all of
us. You know, ⁓ as we wrap up, one of the things that really stood out to me in our first conversation that I'd love for you to share is how you were able to make time for your art for you every night. Because it's like a commitment to yourself.
Meaghan Troup (1:18:52)
And then. Oh, go ahead.
Mm-hmm.
⁓ It's, it's, well, one, I have an amazing husband who's very understanding. He is a true partner. So, and, and, you know, we both, so he owns the agency that he is an insurance agency, it's a family business. And it went from his pap, his granddad, to his mom and her brothers. And now it's him and his cousin that runs it. And I
came on about five years ago as a marketing director there. we are really, he is so helpful. Like he'll come home and throw dishes over or he'll do a little laundry or he'll say, you know what, let me put the kids down to bed tonight so you can have time to paint. So a lot of times it's late at night after, you know,
we're after we've gotten done with dinner and the dishes are cleaned up and you know kids are ready for bed and I've kissed them good night or I've gotten them down to bed so it's usually like nine o'clock and on. Fortunately I'm a natural night owl ⁓ and then he'll try to like schedule some time on weekends to like carve out some time for me to paint. So it's a lot of balancing and it's
it's a real partnership with my husband because if I didn't have him, I probably wouldn't have half the time that I normally get because he just he helped out a lot. So yeah.
Jen Porter (1:20:50)
That's beautiful, beautiful partnership.
So if people wanna find you, they're gonna go to refugefineart.com, is that right? Refugefineart.com, and I'll put that in the show notes too. Thank you so much for sharing your story. ⁓ You're welcome. I mean, just such a beautiful example of resiliency and perseverance and overcoming odds and allowing that inner strength to emerge so that you could press through. ⁓
Meaghan Troup (1:20:57)
Yes, that's correct.
Well, thank you for having me.
Jen Porter (1:21:18)
what you went through as a child, but also every day now, what you go through. So thank
Meaghan Troup (1:21:23)
Yeah. Well,
it's not as bad as chemo.
Jen Porter (1:21:28)
Yeah,
that's right. Yeah, you've got that. So ⁓ thanks for listening everybody ⁓ and check out Meaghan's work at RefugeFineArt.com and feel free to share this story. I mean, we all know somebody who's going through some tremendous painful experiences and let this be an encouragement.
Meaghan Troup (1:21:33)
Yeah.
Jen Porter (1:21:51)
for others around you. And until the next episode, the lioness in me sees the lioness in you.
Creators and Guests
